Wee spinach
Baby beets
Our very low pond!
We’ve been working away out here the past week. More cleaning and organizing. More irrigating all the fall crops. There’s now just 3 or 4 more beds of lettuces, radishes, and the like to plant for this year’s crops. We’re getting the field ready to plant strawberries, garlic, over-wintering flowers and onions. That field should be all set by the end of the day Thursday. Our winter cover crop seeds arrived Thursday morning and it was my intention to sow it all Thursday afternoon. But Thursday was one of those days when nothing goes according to plan, things break, precious time is spent running around looking for tools & replacement parts, and not everything is done that you wanted to get done. We’re starting to get the feeling that there’s not much to do around the farm, only to realize that there are in fact many, many little projects to start or half finished tasks from months ago to complete.
Monday morning was a but of a close call. It was 37 degrees on the farm! We almost lost all the flowers and sweet potatoes. But we didn’t, so well keep picking those flowers and start to harvest the sweet potatoes probably next week. As you’ll notice, your boxes no longer have tomatoes in them. We are still getting some tomatoes out of the greenhouses, just not very much. We’ll con tin to offer them for sale, and perhaps put them in the boxes again.
The boxes we use for the CSA shares are waxed and are not recyclable, but we do reuse them. So PLEASE remember to BRING THEM BACK next week.
Ideas for Cooking
“A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand” – Barbara Johnson
STORING YOUR WINTER SQUASH – Rich in vitamin c and B, winter squash keeps well with a bit of watching.
Acorn squash will keep five to eight weeks.
Butternut will keep for four to six months – Keep an eye on it, checking for softening spots.Full Sun will harden off your squash, so you don’t have to worry about doing it yourself.
DO NOT WASH ANY VEGETABLE YOU WANT TO STORE
If the skin is damaged in any way, eat it as soon as you can.
Keep them cool and dry – 50 to 55F is best – The high the temp is shorter your shelf life is. If you using your basement watch for mice. Our dogs considered it tasty too. Good ventilation is also essential. Acorn likes it colder. 45 to 50 degrees if possible
If it begins to mold, you can wipe it off with a damp towel.
Some folks wipe their butternut down with a dilute mix of hydrogen peroxide. Like 10 to 1 mix. This is said to combat fungus. I have not done this. Be sure your squash is dry before storing.Recipes for this week: